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Chung Mong Koo, Hyundai Motor

By Ishaan TharoorTuesday, Aug. 10, 2010

Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images

South Korea has long been dominated by the chaebol, powerful business families whose vast conglomerates (such as Samsung and Hyundai Motor) have been the engines of the country's economic miracle and have significant stakes in most of its major industries. Their fingers in many pies, the chaebol also wield great political power and at times have seemed above the law despite numerous allegations of corruption. In 2007, Chung Mong Koo, Hyundai chairman, was found guilty of fraud and embezzlement, having siphoned some $100 million into a slush fund allegedly to bribe officials. His trial was hailed as a victory for transparency and rule of law in South Korea  but Chung's three-year jail term would be suspended, and in 2008 he received a full pardon from South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.